Two Phelps Daughters Leave

Rebecca Watson reports that two of the daughters of Fred Phelps have left the family and the Westboro Baptist Church, joining two of their brothers including, of course, Nate Phelps. Megan Phelps-Roper posted on her website that she and her sister Grace have left:

Where do you go from there?

I don’t know, exactly. My sister Grace is with me, though. We’re trying to figure it out together.

There are some things we do know.

We know that we’ve done and said things that hurt people. Inflicting pain on others wasn’t the goal, but it was one of the outcomes. We wish it weren’t so, and regret that hurt.

We know that we dearly love our family. They now consider us betrayers, and we are cut off from their lives, but we know they are well-intentioned. We will never not love them.

We know that we can’t undo our whole lives. We can’t even say we’d want to if we could; we are who we are because of all the experiences that brought us to this point. What we can do is try to find a better way to live from here on. That’s our focus.

I sure hope they make it. Nate has told me that a couple of his siblings have left and later gone back. I sure hope these two can escape the vortex of hatred and barbarism their family has taught them. And I hope Nate is in touch with them and can help them do that.

They have an unbelievable amount of poison to filter from their systems. Good luck.

Trebuchet

These are actually granddaughters, I think. Best of luck to them. Escaping from a cult which has controlled your entire life has got to be one of the hardest possible things to do.

raven

but we know they are well-intentioned.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Being well intentioned and sincere and $1.75 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Most dictators like Stalin and Pol Pot were sincere and well intentioned.

F [nucular nyandrothol]

I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem.

chilidog99

A cup of coffee is only $1.75 at Starbucks?

slc1

Re raven @ #3

Hey, ole Frankenberger was well intentioned when he took over in Germany in 1933. He built the Autobahn, set up the Volkswagen company and reduced unemployment a lot more then Roosevelt did in the US. What do you want, blood?

gshelley

It’s kind of interesting that they can see that the WBC is wrong, and that it is treating homosexuality like a special case, without any real biblical justification, but that they still think of them as basically good people who mean well.

raven

A cup of coffee is only $1.75 at Starbucks?

???

Well, really I don’t know.

I do frequent a coffee shop occasionally but it is a local one. That is what they charge for a basic cup of coffee.

There’s a good essay on the two sisters here . What I love about the story is that it was walking into a library and looking at some philosophy books that made the difference. THAT’s how it’s supposed to work. Support your local public library!

One of their older brothers is out on his own, and married I think. As is one of their cousins. Both still live in Kansas, if I recall correctly – Kevin Smith chanced to encounter them when he was outing touring his movie “Red State”. Ended up podcasting them, it was very interesting. At any rate, those two were working on forming their own little family group (spending holidays together, etc) and I hope these young women get in touch with them.